


The Way is Dark,The Road is Steep

by jeudemots



Category: Tomb Raider (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Spoilers for Rise of the Tomb Raider
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-21 02:18:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6034321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeudemots/pseuds/jeudemots
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Lara journeyed to Siberia seeking the Divine Source, she brought with her the people she trusted most. Even as the last Croft sinks deeper into obsession as they get closer to the mountain, Jonah remains steadfast and loyal. Sarah, another survivor of Yamatai, comes prepared to follow them into hell. Even though the wind is starting to sound like whispering and the dreams are getting worse. She'll still follow them anywhere for the sake of the bond between them but she's becoming more certain by the day that something is waiting for her in the mountains. Something alive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Some nights the voice is almost loud enough to hear. It’s been getting louder the closer she gets. The snow is real now, it crunches and snaps under her boots, the air is thin and brittle in her lungs making them gasp and seize and the cold, the cold is merciless. The man is becoming clearer too. She can see details now, a flash of blue eyes in the darkness, strong arms banded around her, the soft tenor of his voice. 

Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.

“Wake up.” She opens her eyes to blue nylon as it ripples and shakes from the wind. Turning her head, she can see Lara’s face framed by the literal mountain of white behind her. “Come on Sarah, we have to get going.” The impossible, impatient Lara Croft disappeared out into the frozen land beyond their tent, leaving her friend to sigh and shift her creaking limbs slowly. Hearing Lara call to Jonah outside, Sarah decided there was little use trying to ease into it and forced her body up from the sleeping bag. She was tired; the dreams always left her feeling ill rested and weary but she shoved that aside along with the bedding and got up to dress. 

Emerging from the tent got her a slap of cold wind across the face but after a week in Siberia, it was a familiar sensation. The quiet murmurings of the hired crew barely carried over to her but she could hear the discontent in their voices. Sarah let her eyes pan around the campsite and she saw Lara standing with Jonah at the base of the path. Beyond her the jagged peaks loomed high overhead, casting a shadow over the expedition.

The unease among the expedition members was almost tangible, more of them turned back every day and as she watched them speak in hushed tones and cast fearful glances toward the mountaintop, Sarah knew they would be on their own very soon. Jonah left Lara staring up at her goal and came to meet her. She could tell by the worry in his kind face that it wasn’t good news.  
“They’re heading back aren’t they?” He grimaced.  
“Yeah, they won’t go any farther.” Nodding absently, she turned her eyes to Lara’s back. She knew her friend was skirting the dangerous line of obsession too closely but they were all of them committed; Lara for her father, Jonah for loyalty and for Lara. Sarah’s reasons were more nebulous. She hadn’t spoken about the dreams to Lara. As much as the woman had been slowly immersing herself in the supernatural, she was still very much entrenched in the skeptic instincts of a scientist. She had only detailed the strange recurring dreams to Jonah and though he had worried about their meaning, he encouraged her to follow them to Siberia.  
The hand on her shoulder made her startle before she realized her friend was still beside her.  
“They’re really taking a toll on you aren’t they?” His warm brown eyes were sympathetic; his mouth trying for a smile but the worry was easy to see.  
“There’s more to them now, more details. I can almost make out his face now, his voice.” His touch, she thought but she refrained from mentioning that. She wasn’t in the mood for jokes about it.  
“And that other thing?” He tilted his head toward the mountain. Sarah stared up at the imposing peak, feeling a sense of foreboding while looking at it.  
“I don’t know that that’s what it is, Jonah.” He shrugged.  
“But it makes sense. The closer we get to the lost city, the more you hear it. Maybe it’s calling you, this artifact Lara’s after.” She shot him a sidelong look and then returned to watching Lara with a wry little tilt on her lips.  
“You always call it that, always ‘the artifact’ never the Divine Source.” Beside her Jonah was silent for a moment and together they listened to the wind cry out.  
“Because I don’t think the divine has a source, Sarah. I think the divine is everywhere and in everything. That’s what I believe.” Sarah chewed that over for a moment and then responded, quiet so the sound wouldn’t carry.  
“Me too. Don’t tell Lara but I’ve never really bought the idea of some mystical McGuffin being the source of god’s power on earth. I think there is something here but I think it’s something else.” She tilted her head for a moment, thinking she heard something strange on the wind, almost a whisper. Jonah’s voice cut in over the sound.  
“Well, you might be the only one of us in a position to know.” He nudged her with his elbow, grinning. It served to break the tension building over them. Lara had turned from her perusal of their route onward and was striding toward them, full of purpose.  
“Well, break’s over. Let’s get ready. I don’t think the next few hours are going to be much fun for anybody.” When she woke up buried under a foot of snow five hours later, Sarah certainly wished she’d kept her mouth shut.


	2. Chapter 2

Avalanches were a real motherfucker, Sarah thought as she lay on her back panting up at the darkening sky. It had taken ten minutes of agonizing clawing to dig her way out. Her limbs were like lead and they burned with cold. The snow kept everything blanketed in silence; the only sound was the wind. Tilting her head up, she could see trees all around her and knew it was past time to get up. Forcing her body to move was agony but she dug her way through the snow, crawling until she could reach a tree that was sturdy enough to pull herself up on. Sarah looked around for any sign of Lara and Jonah, but all she saw was snow, trees and a few rocky outcroppings. Checking herself for gear, she noted that her pack was gone but she still had a few emergency rations, a firestarter kit and her knife. Not much but enough to work with. Shoving away from the tree, Sarah staggered on, shouting for Jonah and Lara a few times and listening for any sign of her friends. Not hearing so much as a sound in reply, she pressed on through the forest. Sarah kept her mind focused on moving and staying awake, letting everything else take a backseat to survival. It was a familiar exercise; Yamatai had made survivors of them all, those who had lived, anyway. 

She hadn’t gone far when she heard the unmistakable crack of gunfire, echoing from somewhere close by. Sarah’s head darted up and she flattened herself against a tree. At first she didn’t see anything in the growing darkness but then she noticed two figures running through the clearing just ahead pursued by four others. Moving quickly, she hurried toward them, keeping herself alert for any stragglers. It became clear as she got closer that the two being pursued weren’t Lara and Jonah but the emblems on the jackets of their attackers were easily recognizable.

“Trinity,” she muttered, disgustedly. The two running ahead of them were trying to get away. The redheaded woman was clearly doing a good job of discouraging pursuit with her bow. For a moment, Sarah thought they would make it, when suddenly the man tripped and fell. Heart in her throat, she watched along with the woman as the two remaining Trinity goons stood over the fallen man. She was close enough to see everything clearly, still hidden in the trees. She heard the man shout to his companion to leave him. She knew what was coming next. Lara probably would have been smart enough to keep quiet, she mused but then Lara was intelligence and grace personified. She was just a lunatic with a knife and no tolerance for fanatics.

“Hey fuck-face!” Her shouting was definitely enough to draw their attention. Both men immediately turned guns up. The man on the ground took advantage of their lapse and drove his knife into the femoral artery of Trinity goon #1. Goon #2 heard the scream and made to turn back but Sarah was already running from the tree line. Knife in hand she launched herself at him, burying all 4 inches of the blade into his throat. Adrenaline surging, she quickly got off the man as he twitched and died, spilling fresh hot blood into the snow. Sarah made certain he was dead and then retrieved her knife. Kicking the man over, Sarah eyed him critically before she promptly began stripping his body of anything useful. His friend got the same treatment. When she straightened the two still alive people had backed up and were watching her with weapons pointed.

“You two alright?” They didn’t relax so much as an inch at her flip question but then she hadn’t really expected them to. “If I get shot because my Russian sucks, I’m going to be very unhappy about it,” she declared, only half to herself. She tried again, “Are there more of these assholes around here?” The redhead jerked her head back behind her and the man with her pulled back immediately, indicating which was in charge. 

“Why are you here?” The woman spoke English with a slight inflection but definitely no trace of a Slavic accent. Whoever these people were they weren’t Russian. The cadence and slight accent was achingly familiar though. It took a few moments for her to realize that the man from her dreams spoke with a similar lilt. Pushing that aside, she realized it was time to do some fast talking before she ended up dead. 

“I got caught in the avalanche. I’m just looking for my friends.” The redhead drew back her bow, aiming the nocked arrow directly at her throat.

“You didn’t answer my question.” Not wanting to anger the woman, Sarah nodded.

“I know. We came here looking for something, it’s true, but right now all I care about is finding my friends; a big black man with dark hair and eyes and a woman about my height with brown hair. You probably saw her kicking someone’s ass? Have you seen anyone like that?” The woman was unmoved by her attempt at humor, her blue-green eyes sharp and unforgiving. “Look, we are not with these assholes. We’re not here to hurt anyone.”

“But you did come here searching for something, just as they did.”

“Maybe so but I’m not about to join up with a bunch of psychotic fanatics looking to massacre anything in their path. I’d rather help the people trying to stop them.” She studied the woman silently for a moment, coming to a decision. “How about this, if you keep an eye out for my friends and offer them shelter if you find them, then I’ll do whatever I can to help you. How does that sound?” Sarah waited, watching the other woman intently. She could see nothing in her expression but could tell the archer was thinking about it. After several minutes of tense silence the woman nodded slowly. 

“Let us see what your word is worth. These people have taken a captive, a man named Jacob. If you return him to us unharmed we will consider your proposal.” 

“Do you know where they might be keeping him?”

“The old prison is their base. They must be holding him there but we cannot get close.” There weren’t a lot of options but she certainly wasn’t going to leave someone in the hands of those maniacs. 

“Ok. I’ll do what I can.” The woman lowered her bow and turned to leave with an imperious tilt of her head. If she had been surprised by the easy acquiescence, it didn’t show. It suddenly occurred to Sarah that the man she was going to find might be similarly suspicious of her.

“Wait! What’s your name? In case he needs proof that you sent me.” The redheaded archer doesn’t turn but calls out over her shoulder.

“Sofia. Tell him Sofia sent you.” She walked away into the brush and Sarah let out a gusty sigh of relief. 

“Alright, this is getting more complicated by the moment.” It hadn’t escaped her notice the way the women and her partner were dressed, the small adornments here and there. They were remnants of a culture far older than anything in the region, anything known to exist there, anyway. She would have bet anything that they were Byzantine in origin but didn’t have Lara’s knowledge of the culture to back up her guess. They knew that the prophet’s people had fled Syria, if they had settled here; could their descendants still be alive? The idea that there might be an entire group of people living here and vulnerable to Trinity’s incursion made her feel ill. There was little to be done about it right then so Sarah shook away the questions and began making her way toward the bright glow shining over the treetops. The base would surely be there and this Jacob somewhere inside it.


End file.
